Lyrical Cloud - a Nanoha Fanfic
by Hayate Yagami
Summary: Hayate, Lt. Colonel in the Time-Space Administration Bureau, has been plagued by terrible nightmares of an event that happened in the past. With a bigger threat lurking over the horizon, will the remains of a dying Riot Force 6 be able to keep Mid-Childa safe once again? 'Lyrical Cloud' sets out to put Hayate's relationships and bonds in the limelight, as well as overcome her past.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

_"__Hayate__... __snap __out __of __it__!"_

_"__Hayate__! __Hayate__, __no__!"_

_"__Hayate__! __Wake __up__! __Don__'__t __you__..."_

_"__I __can__'__t__...!"_

"Haaahn!"

With a shrill and terrified scream, Hayate arose from her sleep in a panic, panting to the point of near-hyperventilation. Sweat was dripping from her body as she looked around herself, mildly terrified. It took her a few moments to realise that she had been dreaming and hadn't actually left the safety of her room. But even this realisation wasn't enough to snap Hayate out of her fear this dream had stricken her with. She moved her arms in front of her chest and immediately turned her attention to them. Each of her hands slid to the opposite arm, quickly checking out every little inch of them, even pulling up the sleeves of pyjamas. She did it slowly, and rather cautiously, as if something horrifying could've appeared.

There was nothing there; her silky white skin was pure, unblemished and untainted by anything bar the sweat she was practically bleeding. Hayate let out a relieved sigh, forcing a smile onto her face as her hand moved to cover her eyes, letting out a very slight, fearful sob. "Ahaha..." It was probably the most strained and forceful laugh she could ever make, but it was all she could think of to snap her out of this pain.

"Hayate?"

The door to Hayate's room suddenly started to open, the old wood letting out a shriek almost like she herself had done moments ago. She jumped in surprise, the sudden creaking shocking her wide awake and out of her dazed state. She hadn't expected someone to awake at this hour, let alone entering her room so suddenly! While she had subconsciously heard Vita's earlier call, she didn't actually process it until the creaking door snapped her awake.

"Are you okay?" It was the red-haired little Wolkenritter, Vita. Hearing Hayate's shrill cry, she had instantly dashed off towards her room. A scream coming from someone's personal space was enough to shock even the strongest knight, especially in the middle of the night! It's normal to worry about someone's safety in a situation like that!. 'What if someone had sneaked into their house?' But that wasn't what worried her most, after all, those stupid enough to try to sneak into the room of a Lt. Colonel of the Time-Space Administration Bureau weren't smart enough to pose an actual threat. What Vita was worried about was Hayate's mental state, and that much was clearly visible on her face. Even though it was clear there wasn't anything wrong, that look of worry wouldn't leave Vita's face.

"I'm fine, Vita. Don't worry." As always, Hayate didn't wish to burden her friends with her problems, especially one as minor as a nightmare. Those dark memories were something of the past; and getting over that painful nightmare was something she could only do herself. Telling someone so extremely loyal and worrying like Vita about something she couldn't possibly help with would only depress her!

After a moment of hesitation, the smaller girl spoke, moving forward towards Hayate. "Shamal said you started having those nightmares again." She was clothed in only a long, white shirt that reached down far enough to cover her hips. Hayate gulped in response, shaking her head and letting out a strained little giggle. "Ahaha, Vita! It's fine, don't worry about it!" Vita merely shook her head in response, sitting down next to Hayate and wrapping her arms tightly around her.

"No, no, Vita, it's fine. Go back to bed~ We have a big day coming up tomorrow. I can't let you go without sleep!" It deeply hurt Vita to get rejected like this, she felt like she had a responsibility towards Hayate; not only was Hayate her master, but she had also done the very same thing for her in the past. Every time there was something that bothered Vita, no matter how slight it was, Hayate was there to comfort her. And, with how deeply troubling and disturbing these nightmares were to her beloved master, she wished nothing more but to help her! All she wanted to do was help her master, after all.

Vita's body shifted slightly, and she pushed her head into Hayate's chest. For a few moments, the two sat in silence. Vita knew how hard this all was for her master, and Hayate knew that her little servant just deeply wished to help her. But, there's nothing that Vita could do that could stop Hayate from having nightmares! The only one that could get over her painful memories was her, herself. "Nothing like that will ever happen again, Hayate... I'll protect you. I promise."

Hearing that did make Hayate quite happy. She was sure that her dearest and most loyal knight would make sure that nothing like that would ever occur again. While it might be partially outside of Vita's power, the promise itself and the sheer commitment she would put into making it true was definitely going to help; if not be one of the only things capable of stopping the same disaster from unfolding once more.

"I know, thank you. But I promise you won't need to."

Vita squirmed softly in the other's grip, causing Hayate to move her left hand up to the little girl's head and give it a soft few pats. Trying to keep this to herself was hurting Vita quite a bit, but unloading herself on Vita, or anyone else, wouldn't help either. Not only that, but if Hayate shared her pain with someone else and something bad happened again, they wouldn't be able to forgive themselves. Especially Vita, who held Hayate so close to her heart.

Hayate's hand moved towards Vita's arms, gently tugging them away from herself and grabbing onto her hands. She started to softly fumble with them, intertwining their fingers for a moment before letting her hand go again, Vita responded with a confused and slightly tired expression, gazing up at her master, before Hayate wrapped her pinky around Vita's. "I promise, Vita." She said, showing a bright smile and planting a gentle kiss on her head. The tiny knight sobbed softly in response. What was she promising? It wasn't like Hayate could do anything about it if it happened again! There was nothing she could do! Vita knew it and she knew Hayate knew as well, that the only ones that could prevent this from reoccurring were the ones around her. As terrifyingly powerful as Hayate was, she couldn't protect herself from the power of her own emotions!

"D-don't promise me stuff like this... idiot... I'm the one that should protect you."

Vita's tongue turned a bit sharper to scold her beloved master. Normally, her tone was never harsh or rude around Hayate; but this was an obvious exception. Hayate was rejecting her aid during a time where she needs all the help she could get, and that was unacceptable! Even if she had to get a little rude, she had to get this point across to her Hayate!

"I'm your knight, after all..."

"Ahaha, even knights don't have to meddle with all of their lord's affairs, right?"

".Nn..." Vita's blue gems looked up at Hayate, giving a quick shake of her tiny little head. "Hayate, don't blame yourself... nobody else does."

"But..."

Vita's eyes gleamed ever so slightly in response, and Hayate instantly stopped talking. She couldn't agree with forcing her problems off onto other people. Even sharing it with Shamal was something that Hayate would've liked to avoid; but it was hard to withhold her mental strain from the medical department of Riot Force 6. And when she saw the slightest hints of stress, the Chief Medical Officer was sure to squeeze her poor Commander dry of every last detail.

"...Okay."

But this was easier said than done. While she couldn't simply dismiss all of her negative feelings just because of Vita telling her so, it was slightly elevating to Vita's reassurance. Hayate tightly wrapped her arms around her little knight, easing the both of their bodies back onto the bed. Vita was shifted into the other's grip, and tightly to nuzzled into Hayate's chest as if she were a child being embraced by her mother.

"But, we really need to sleep now, Vita. We can't stay up so late when we have such a big day ahead of us!"

Vita did realise that Hayate's reasoning behind saying that was simply trying to shift away from the subject of her bad memories and, although Vita was unsatisfied how little they talked, she realised Hayate was right. Tomorrow was going to be a long and very special day, and having the both of them stressed and tired from the night before wasn't really something she wanted. Egging her on further wouldn't really accomplish anything either, and it would have to wait until later regardless, at least until tomorrow's ceremony was over. The best choice of action was definitely to just sleep for the rest of the night and enjoy the day ahead of them.

"Good night, Hayate."

"Goodnight, Vita~"

And slowly, they drifted into a deep sleep. Clinging, hugging together like the most loving of family; as if it were still ten years earlier.


	2. Chapter 2: Celebration

When the two woke up the next day, neither Vita nor Hayate spoke of the little conversation they had a few hours ago. While Vita tried to bring it up later in the morning, she decided against it upon seeing Hayate's expression darken in response. Instead, Vita did her best to be as calming as she could, almost apologetically so for bringing something like this up right before a big event. It's something that the little knight definitely wanted to help her master with; but it had to wait. Hayate and Vita both knew that when the big day was over, she would be mercilessly grilled for everything relating to the stress she had been holding back.

But that was to be left for another day Today, they were supposed to spend all day resting. It had been a month since the Jail Scagletti incident had been resolved, and ever since then, work had started to run dry . Because of the lack of assigned missions, their funding quickly stopped and their duties seemed to be completely relegated to that of a bureaucratic division. Everyone knew it, but nobody quite wanted to say it: Riot Force 6 was dying. Soon, they'd be disbanded and everyone would be sent back to their separate divisions again. It was simply depressing! While nothing had ever stopped them from seeing each other outside of their work, sharing that time was simply a bliss. After all, Hayate had finally been able to fulfil the promise she made to her two closest friends. They were finally all working together, undivided, under one division of the TSAB!

"Na~no-haaa~"

Hayate's rather dark mood quickly bounced away as she suddenly saw one of her best friends walk through the hallway. She was a bit surprised, as she thought only her Wolkenritter had arrived thus far, after all, it was still so early in the morning! There was still an hour left until their workday would officially start, so even with Nanoha's worrying and sometimes even frightening work-ethic, it was rather surprising to see her this early in the day. However, her slightest worries wouldn't last too much longer. Making a short hop, the Commander embraced the Captain from behind, lovingly nuzzling her cheek into her back.

Nanoha almost fell flat on her face from the quick tackle Hayate gave her, barely managing to stop herself from falling flat on her face. "A-ah, hi, Hayate!" the cheery instructor said, stepping forward to break her Commander's quick embrace before turning around and showing her a happy little smile.

Before Nanoha could continue speaking, Hayate interrupted her with a quick wave of the hand. She looked around herself to ensure nobody was watching them. She was merely pretending, however; she wouldn't approach one of her subjects like this if there was a chance of anyone being around. Hayate knew that openly being this tactile with her subjects could result in some hefty criticism "Ahem, Captain Takamachi, it's nice to see that you're here so early!" Hayate gave Nanoha a bright smile, cutely holding her arms behind her back, wrapping her legs around one-another to pose as elegantly as possible. Nanoha responded with an amused little giggle, deciding to play along with the little act. "Thank you, Commander Yagami. I do my best to work as diligently as possible! Hearing your praise is the greatest reward I could ask for." The Captain even made a quick, elegant bow as she spoke, causing Hayate to be slightly taken aback, a bit shocked by how cute the little act was.

After the fun was over, however, Nanoha glanced around herself, letting out a soft little hum before speaking. Turning back to face the much shorter girl once again, Nanoha spoke. "Hayate." She said, her tone reverting to a serious one. "Have you seen Fate around?" It was rather clear Hayate didn't quite how Nanoha had already switched the subject away, towards the blonde Enforcer. Her lips curled up into a pout and her expression turned slightly sour, but within a moment Hayate had already caught herself and forced a smile back onto her face. "Mm? I haven't," she said, her expression shifting to a slightly worried one. "Is something wrong?" A tad of uneasiness also snuck into both her expression and voice. With how much of a den mother Hayate was and how Nanoha had suddenly switched to a more serious tone, Hayate couldn't help but be a bit worried!

"Nyahaha~ oh, no, wipe that worried expression off your face, Hayate! It's nothing serious, really! She just said she'd be here to help me when she was done with Vivio. I just didn't think it would take more than an hour, so I thought I might have missed her." The Captain's pure giggle managed to clear the worries from Hayate's mind nigh-instantly, making her put on her happy smile once again, losing the worry as quick as she gained it.

"Ahaha, okay. I'll tell her if I see her." Hayate said, giving a happy little nod before quickly hopping backwards and away from her friend. "I'd love to stay and chat, Nanoha, but I have a lot of paperwork left that needs to be done before the party, so I kinda have to hurry~" the girl cooed out softly. Nanoha reached out, trying to stop her "Ah, Hayate-" she said, but the young commander had already sprinted off without letting Nanoha give a proper response. She sighed, softly. Nanoha knew exactly what Hayate was up to, but it was not up to her to stop it and snap her out of it.

The quick rate that Hayate was able to rip through tons of paperwork was one of the only reasons that Riot Force 6 was still allowed to function without any actual work left. Hayate would've definitely preferred to sit around and spend some more time with Nanoha, especially since their loads of paperwork made it quite a bit harder to spend the time together that she wanted to! It was really frustrating!

Hayate opened the door to her office, quickly shutting it behind her and flipping the lock as she went. Throwing a party for her division was, obviously, a bit expensive. While it was partially a 'thank you for the good work', considering they had gotten more done than equally-expensive divisions did in a tenth of the time, a division-wide free day might be stretching it in the eyes of her superiors. Hayate had to work as hard as she could to let her beloved division continue to prevail, especially because many higher ups would prefer to disband the Riot Force, solely because of Hayate's connection to the Book of Darkness. Nothing seemed to change this preconception, not even how admirably she tried to keep everything together.

Thus, in return for letting her little division exist, they shifted as many menial tasks onto her as possible, generally almost obscene amounts of paperwork. While she thought she had finished everything yesterday, right before her shift ended, another load of paperwork was delivered, all of which had to be finished the next day. It would've really gotten in the way of preparations for the party, so Hayate kept it secret from everyone else. If all those that were authorized to handle this put their heads together and worked for two hours straight, they'd definitely be able to get it done early. But if everyone spent that amount of time working, then there wouldn't be enough time for them to prepare properly.

This party was supposed to be a grand event for everyone involved, and it should not be littered with the stress of paperwork! Dropping all of this on the division would definitely kill the mood of the party! "Aahh..." The Commander let out a noise of complaint as she moved herself to her desk, sitting down into her chair and grabbing onto the first page of paperwork. She had gotten quite used to having to read through tonnes of this every day by now, so it wasn't like it'd take her too long, maybe three hours? Perhaps four, at most?

"Ah, Hayate~" After a few minutes of working, a playful voice rang through Hayate's office. She shifted her attention to the door, almost jumping in shock when she saw someone entering. It seemed like one of Hayate's friends had let himself into her office, disregarding her lock completely. "Stop locking yourself up, Hayate!" Verossa said with a scolding look in his eyes, crossing his arms and giving the most stern expression he could muster. "Don't you know that cute little flowers need plenty of sunlight to grow?"

Okay, hearing Verossa's little teasings had always been a bit uplifting. Hayate couldn't help but show a soft smile for a moment before sitting right back into her chair. "Sorry, Verossa... I have a lot of work to do." she sighed softly, grabbing the documents she dropped only a few seconds earlier. She thought that locking the door behind her would keep anyone from disturbing her, but it seemed like Acous had somehow managed to snatch a key to the office. However, Hayate still had her keys on her, so there's only one other person he could've stolen it from!

"Don't forget to give Rein her keys back this time. You almost gave her a heart attack the last time you stole them!" Well, it wasn't like it hadn't happened before. Acous believed deeply in sticking his nose into someone else's business the instant his little 'investigator's instinct' implied something was wrong, and there wasn't very much that could stop him from doing so. Well, that's just the sign of him being a great investigator, right? "Ahaha... I really don't have the time to play around." the Commander sternly said, grabbing onto her pen and scribbling down a few notes, noticing that her friend had no intention of leaving. "Verossa!" Hayate sighed softly. "...I need to finish all of this before today's ceremony." Her hand gestured at the large stack of paperwork.

"Then, how about I help out? If cute little Ms. Yagami can do it, I'm sure I can help~!" Verossa leaned forward, sitting down next to Hayate and moving to steal that little pen from her hand, his free hand aiming to snatch the next piece of paper in the pile, quickly moving his hands before Hayate had any time to react-

"Verossa, you can't be..." Hayate whined out, quickly standing up and latching her hand out at the paperwork that he had deftly snatched away, but Verossa easily held it out of her reach by playfully pulling it up and away every time Hayate's hands came closer. "Hey, quit it! You don't have the clearance to read that!" The little Commander continued to scold as she thrust her hands right after Verossa's, trying to snatch it right back. However, all he needed to do to keep it out of her reach was stand up, raising the document higher up into the air, quite a tad out of the reach of Hayate's arms. "Nn, and even if you did!" Hayate stood up, making a quick jump to thrust her hand at the paper as fast as she could, but the teasing investigator just casually swayed his hand to the side, leaving her hopping around frustrated. "You don't have the authorization to...!"after a few more hops, however, Hayate stopped. Her scolding stopped mid sentence as she did, her arms still raised in the air for a short moment. It had finally hit Hayate how silly this entire situation was and she froze on the spot!

Hayate dropped her arms back down to her sides, letting a soft snicker out of her lips before loudly bursting out into a joyful, happy laugh. God, it felt like she was in high school again, back when people would tease her for her petite form! "Ahaha… Verossa, you idiot." She said, showing Verossa a bright smile, moving her hand up to wipe the tears of happiness from her eyes. After a moment other hand quickly moved to jab him gently in his chest. Verossa finally let his arms down, setting that little piece of paper right back on the Commander's desk, placing his hand on her head and softly patting her. "'Hayate, a Commander shouldn't try to protect everyone by pulling all the stress onto themselves!' … is something that Chrono would say right now, isn't it?" Verossa trailed his hand down towards her cheek, giving her a gentle caress. Hayate's lips curled into a wide smile, the attention she was getting her quite emotional.

Suddenly, the office's door opened once more. "...Ah, Verossa. I was going to say that!" It was already a bit embarrassing to have Verossa come and cheer her up, but now Chrono was there, too? "Ah... Fate, Chrono." her lips curled upwards, showing a happy smile as both Chrono and his adopted sister let themselves in. "Fate told us you've seemed quite a bit off the last few days, Hayate." Chrono said, sitting himself down in front of Hayate's desk and giving her a quick little nod. It seemed like Verossa dropped by because everyone was worried. How uniquely heartwarming!

Fate followed soon after, sitting down right next to Chrono as she gave Hayate a warm smile. "Nanoha and I both noticed that you've been really bad about splitting the workload lately... you've been pulling everything onto yourself again." she said, her eyes drifting towards her adopted brother and the investigator, giving them both a quick nod, before shifting her eyes right back to her Commander, putting on a face that was just a tad scolding, to say the least.

"Knowing this little event was coming up, we figured you'd try to pull a fast one like this." Verossa also sat himself down next to Chrono before mockingly waving his hand at her, as if making fun of her for turning her brain off and trying to hide from the friends that desperately wanted to help her. "Anyway; Hayate. While I can't dismiss this paperwork or anything, I can definitely help you. Fate, too." Chrono said, causing Verossa to look sheepishly at him. Chrono responded with a quick look and a "No.", causing Verossa to react by putting on a weak, defeated expression, curling his bottom lip and pointing at his face. "...I can't?" he said, feigning an expression as sad as he possibly could before reverting to a relatively serious face but a second later.

"...By the way, where's Nanoha? I thought she'd be here, too. I'm assuming the preparations are keeping her busy?" the investigator said, instantly shifting his attention towards the blonde Enforcer, figuring she knew the answer best. Fate lifted her head away from the paperwork she just started, giving Hayate a soft look. "Well... I didn't want to put even more work on Nanoha. She already has to do most of the preparations alone because I'm here to help you, Hayate."

Hayate's stared at Fate for a moment before darkly looking down towards her desk, grabbing onto a piece of paper and starting to read with a slightly sombre expression. It took Fate a second to realise what part of her words had startled poor Hayate. "Ah, no, no, Hayate! Don't worry, don't worry. I talked to her just now, and she said she was completely fine taking over for me." Fate said in a worried tone, knowing that pushing more work onto Nanoha was one of the last things Hayate wanted to do! She really hadn't thought that through. Fate's teeth wrapped around her bottom lip as she bit down on it, softly, trying to think of a way to lighten the mood. Her attention wavered towards Verossa and her brother for a moment, but they were doing little to help. She pondered for a few moments on a way to lighten Hayate's mood, before reaching her hands forward and grabbing onto a pen and a bit of paperwork.

"Alright, Hayate! Don't worry, I'm the fastest in Riot Force 6 and all of the TSAB! We'll rip through this paperwork in no time at all!" Fate put on a triumphant tone, spinning her pen between her fingers in her best attempt to crack a joke, pushing her elbow on the desk and giving Hayate a look that tried to show how resolved she, but all she accomplished was looking really silly. All the effort Fate put into looking strong was already unintentionally hilarious alone, but it was made even worse by Fate fumbling the pen out of her fingers. Fate's 'strong' expression quickly turned to an embarrassed one, reaching down to look for the pen. Awkwardly, she did her best to salvage the situation by giggling softly, trying to pretend that this act was all as planned.

Hayate's expression switched from gloomy to surprised as Fate put on her little show before bursting out into a giggle as the usual Fate resurfaced and instantly screwed it up. It was so hilarious and cute, she could've sworn that Fate was screwing it up on purpose! She even seemed to forget why she had become upset earlier in her little giggle-fit! Even Chrono and Verossa joined in on the laughing a few seconds later, less so at Fate and more so at how quickly Fate's clumsiness dragged Hayate out of the slight slump she was starting to develop.

"Thanks, you two."

There was a short pause as silence started to fill the room. Hayate looked towards Verossa a few moments later, who had, as expected, grown a rather dejected expression himself. Were Verossa not as particular as he was, Hayate would've probably felt a bit bad for such a cruel joke. But this; this way payback for how he made fun of her height!

"You too." she said, showing him the brightest of smiles.

Having her friends worry for her so much, having them do their absolute best to get her out of her little hole... it made Hayate feel truly happy.


	3. Chapter 3: Speech

Hayate let out a pleased yawn as she quickly scribbled down on the final piece of paperwork. It had taken quite a while, and were it not for Chrono and Fate helping out as much as they did, she probably wouldn't even be a fourth done by now! Verossa also helped quite a bit, keeping morale high with both his rather bright personality and the various types of sweets he had taken along. It didn't take all too long before the boredom and strain of work completely faded and a light and happy atmosphere filled the air. It would've probably gone a lot faster were they to have stayed completely focused; but that wouldn't have been half as fun! It would've probably been unbearable, to do all of this in such a state of endless boredom...

Sadly, a happy atmosphere couldn't really alleviate the pains that came with continuously signing piece of paper after paper. While Chrono and Hayate were definitely more than just a tad used to the strain, Fate faired a little worse. Her hand had shot to her wrist, rubbing it lightly in pain. With a triumphant cheer, Hayate stacked the final piece of paper onto the stack. Her face lit up with a vibrant smile, and she almost jumped out of her chair. Her arms moved to the sky, stretching herself to rid of the annoying feeling that had started to lightly clog her muscles. "Thank you, everyone!" Hayate happily exclaimed, dropping herself back into her chair. But, upon seeing her friends stand up and prepare to move away, Hayate awkwardly scuttled herself back up.

"Really, there's no need to thank us, Hayate. We're your friends, we're happy to help." Fate moved her hand up to dismissively wave at her Commander, not seeing a need for her thanks. "You need to learn to reach out for help with things like this." the blonde Enforcer made a quick, playful wink as she said that, being surprisingly teasing towards Hayate, causing the brunette to let out a soft huff. The playful teasing wasn't too unpleasant, especially coming from Fate.

"Yeah... Hayate, you've always been like this. You need really need to understand that loads are not your own to carry. Ten years ago, seven years ago, three years ago, the JS incident and now this..." Chrono said, leaving Hayate wincing as Chrono seemed to eagerly list off every time she had failed, causing him to stop his rather ruthless assault and speak in a more friendly tone instead. "Nobody will think any worse of you if you call out for help, okay?" Chrono finished, showing the slightly bothered commander a happy smile.

"Ah, Chrono, it's getting late! Ha~ya~te~! We definitely want to spend more time with you and reminiscence about everything, but..." Verossa said, putting his hands on the shoulders of his two companions, and giving them a gentle pull. "...We should get to finishing the preperations." Verossa realised that this conversation would go nowhere too fast, and leaving while they were ahead was probably the best they could do. Going any further about this, and bringing up past incidents wouldn't do much more than just sadden the poor Commander. "Now, Hayate, you go and rest while we handle the rest of the work, okay? Help yourself to the last bits of cake left, if you need!"

"B-but..." Hayate let out a soft objection, before being quickly silenced by a gentle push from Verossa. Realising that this was a battle she definitely couldn't win, she sat herself down, a bit gloomy from Chrono's earlier comments. But, instead of letting her feel too sad, Verossa lowered his palm onto Hayate's head, giving her a soft pat.

"Hayate. Don't be so worried. We'll make sure something like that never happens again." Verossa said, doing his best to be as encouraging as possible. With how long they've known each other, he definitely knew the things that set her off, as well as the things that calmed her down. "But! This is no time to put on such a long face. You can be gloomy after your special party is over, Hayate."

"All you have to do is reach out to us more, okay? You don't have to keep your pain and tears in around us all, you don't need to keep yourself tough." Fate's words echoed something she and Nanoha had told Hayate ages ago, but it was an advice that she never really followed. Hayate just couldn't let her close friends be burdened with the load she alone was supposed to carry! "I'll drag everything out of you tomorrow, okay?"

"Seriously, Hayate. We're all here for you. Not just us; Nanoha, Carim. Everyone. We all hurt when we see you like this, understand?" As always, Chrono was a bit rougher about his choice of words... but that definitely caused him to hit deeper into her heart. Chrono tended to not sugar coat reality all that much, and while that could occasionally cause some painful conversations, it did drive his point much deeper.

Hayate was not even given the chance to object as the three left with those words and a wave. "I'll go pick you up when the preparations are done. Rest well, okay?" Fate said, taking the other two with her and leaving Hayate alone. She let out a soft, mopey sound, and dropped her face onto the desk, her arms crossing onto it to serve as a makeshift pillow before gently digging her head into it. She wanted to help her friends in any way she could, and being unable to do so and only burdening them instead was extremely unpleasant.

And, really... why did Chrono think it was appropriate to bring up all those past incidents? Even though some of these things happened so long ago, they were still quite fresh and painful in her mind. Closing her eyes, Hayate did the best she could to clear her mind of all these frustrations. But, instead of simply emptying her mind, she quickly fell off into a deep sleep.

"...fast asleep. Wake up!" Hayate's eyes slowly opened, and she was greeted by the face of a worried Reinforce Zwei. The young unison device had her tiny palms pressed against Hayate's forehead and was gently shaking her in an attempt to wake her up. "Oh, you're finally awake!" her worry faded the instant she realised Hayate's eyes hadopened wide. She floated down, grabbing onto her master's shoulder and gently starting to force her upright, quickly giving her a gentle pat as she did. Hayate let out a loud and rather long yawn... realising midway through the yawn that she had not only fallen asleep, but had rested far more blissfully than she had all year!

Hayate hopped up from her chair, quickly standing up, fixing her uniform and her hair in a few quickmovements "Ah, what time is it, Rein! Did I miss anyt-"

Hayate's slight panic was quickly interrupted by Rein, who flew up and gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze, quickly cutting her off with a reply. "There's 15 minutes left until you're up, Hayate." Rein said, sounding even cheerier than she usually did, the slightest of humming in her voice. "Fate tried to wake you up an hour or so ago, but decided to let you sleep because you had a goofy smile on your face~"

While Hayate felt a tad guilty for sleeping this entire time, especially considering the fact that a quick gaze at her desk showed that what little administrative work that she had left had already been done for her, she couldn't deny that her slumber was blissful. While Riot Force 6 was a dream come true, keeping it alive was _extremely_ stressful. She could count the times she had slept like this ever since on one hand! Being sent off to bed with such a relaxed state of mind had caused all of her worries to simply scatter.

"Ahahaha..." Hayate's feelings of guilt had already started mostly slip away, and her hands dashed forward to the her tiny unison device and grabbing her tightly. Before she even had the time to react, Reinforce would be forced into a quick embrace and held tight against Hayate's chest. Rein let out a soft squeak in surprise, but seemed to make herself comfortable soon after and just weakly nestled herself into her master's body. "I think I'll have to thank Fate for letting me sleep, then~" she cooed out softly, cheerfully hopping towards the door, her device in arms.

"...But I have to punish you for letting me sleep in when you know I didn't want to~" But without any warning, Hayate's hands jumped to Rein's sides and she mercilessly started to tickle her. "A-aa~aah! Hayate, noo!"

"Then don't disobey me ever again, Reeein~!"

A large crowd had gathered in the auditorium of the Long Arch; not only was the sheer majority of Riot Force 6 there for the celebrations, various high ranking officers from different divisions and companies had also shown up. Most of them wanted to show their support to the Riot Force for it's amazing accomplishments, but some were there for less than pure reasons. While the majority of the distrust had long faded, some officers in the Ground Forces, Air Force and even some in the Navy still weren't pleased about not only giving a single division this much power. Even after saving Mid-Childa from the threat of Jail Scagletti and his Numbers, the division, and especially their young Commander was still seen as a potential threat. These distrusting individuals came with the sole intention of collecting information, as a seemingly casual event told more about the parties involved than their work did.

"Hello, everyone~" the sounds of bickering that previously filled the large hall had quickly come to a halt. The lights were dimmed, and a large screen was projected in front of the tiny little podium Hayate was standing on. "It's been two months since the Jail Scagletti incident has been resolved and I'd like to thank everyone for their hard work!" Hayate's voice was filled with confidence and a motherly type of authority. While her tone was definitely of someone who in a commanding position, it sounded more like someone commanding a household than an army.

The young Commander fell silent for a short moment as she gazed across the room, as if giving everyone a short pause between parts of a speech. But that was quite opposite of what she was doing; not only was the idea of speaking to so many people at once quite frightening in itself, Hayate knew about the few special guests that were visiting. A single error in her use of words could cause her already strained reputation to dwindle even further, and could definitely be fatal to advancing her career in the TSAB. The thought of this was beyond frightening, a slight of nausea had even stricken Hayate, and while the slight tinting of the projected screen hid it quite well, her skin had paled a tad, seeming like that of a ghost.

Suddenly, the silence was broken again, and Hayate started speaking yet once again "Um, as you all know... Our division won't be able to function too much longer." she said, her left foot tapping on the ground as a means to vent her frustration. "But, every single one of you has been an asset!" a bright smile appeared on the Commander's face, not just to ease the many members of her division, but to hide her own stage fright as well. "Captain Takamachi, Captain Harlaown and I have all read through every one of your files, and filled in the appropriate recommendations for the divisions of the TSAB you want to continue your career in."

Again, there was a short period of silence to give Hayate the time she needed to collect herself. Her anxiety was joined by another emotion, one quite a bit more powerful than her fear. One of overwhelming sadness. The hundreds of soldiers under her command were going to continue down their own paths, and she'd never see the face of many of them ever again, it'd be lucky to see one of their reports pass by. "I trust that each and every single one of you will be able to make your dreams come true, just like I did by starting Riot Force 6." her tone had gone audibly shaky and her emotions were slipping out more than she wanted them to. The slightest of tears started to swell up in her eyes, her eyes visibly gleaming on camera.

To Hayate, this entire division was her family, and nothing could compare to losing it. While she didn't know the majority on an individual level, Hayate made the greatest effort she could to be as close to all under her as she could. She knew the name of every single soldier in this room, and had spoken to them, all of them, at least once. She had heard about their dreams from others, themselves, and their reports. She knew about all of their pasts, all of their families. Some soldiers wanted to taste the romance of war, while others wanted to simply protect the world they loved. But everyone, _everyone_, had unique goals and dreams. But, even after putting her absolute best effort in to aid them to the best of her ability, she knew she wouldn't be able to see any one of her soldiers accomplish their dreams.

"Ahaha..." Hayate let out a soft laugh as her hand moved upwards, rubbing the newly formed tears out of her eyes. "...Even I'm getting a bit emotional~ It's so hard to know that I'm going to have to say goodbye to everyone soon. You'll all be chasing your dreams to the best of your capabilities, and I won't be able to watch you succeed like I could now." her hands moved back to the tiny desk in front of her, softly fiddling with the edges to vent her emotions. "You might run into some hefty obstacles before you can accomplish your dreams, but it won't stop any of you, I'm sure!" again, Hayate had taken a soft break, her hand moving to the middle of her chest, closing her eyes and focusing on her breathing.

"I have faith in all of you! So, please trust in yourselves as well!" Hayate knew like few others the joy of fulfilling her dreams, and only because of her extreme dedication to making her dream a reality. "Because the only way you'll fail on accomplishing your dreams... is if you give up! Don't ever give up on them!" she showed the brightest smile she could as her eyes gleamed once more.

"I want to thank all of you for the lovely year you've given me, even with some of my failures as your commander... You helped me fulfil my dream... and... thank you." The screens disappeared with those last words, and the lights were turned back on. After a few moments of silence, as if to confirm that there wasn't anything else that Hayate had to say, applause had started to fill the room, echoing loudly through the large hall. But, Hayate didn't quite seem to be at her desk anymore.

Hayate had collapsed, onto her knees. The flurry of emotions had become too much for her, and all she could do was let her tears run free. Emotions she had repressed up until then, sadness she didn't even knew she had, it had just all started to flow out instantly! She didn't know what to do anymore, other than sit down and cry into her palms.

"Hayate." the young Commander felt a pair of hands suddenly touch her left shoulder, before she felt those same hands lift her back onto her feet. Still sobbing, Hayate looked away from her hands to see that Nanoha and Fate had came to comfort her, Nanoha having taken the initiative of speaking up and lifting her to her feet. "You did really well." and with those words, Hayate completely forgot about the rules she had given herself for her behaviour towards her friends in front of her subjects. Her arms suddenly, tightly wrapped around Nanoha's body and she dug her face into the other's chest, sobbing softly.

"Aaah. It was so scary, it was so saaad!" the girl softly wailed out, having clearly reached the breaking point of her emotions and simply needing someone to cry on now. Nanoha's hands softly ran over Hayate's back, giving her a comforting and soothing rub, while Fate's hand moved to her head, gently patting her in an attempt to assist in calming her down. "You did an amazing job, Hayate... please, just let your emotions out for now."

And that she did, for minutes straight, Hayate weakly released her emotions in the tight, warm embrace of her two closest friends.

After Hayate's little speech had ended, Long Arch exploded into celebrations. Hayate and her two friends didn't join the celebration for just a short while. After all, Hayate still needed to calm herself down. While her emotions had partially seceded, she was still clearly quite shaken. "Nyahaha~ You know what, Hayate~?" Nanoha cooed out softly, grabbing Hayate's arm gently and starting to drag her with. "Let's see how everyone is doing! That'll cheer you right up." The Commander didn't quite reply just yet, being dragged around by Nanoha was a bit embarrassing, especially with how Fate was just calmly pacing around after them!

"W-wait, Nanoha!" Hayate had to skip a few steps, nearly falling flat on her face from how suddenly Nanoha started dragging her along. Before long, they arrived at Teana, who was conversing with a few other soldiers that wanted to become Enforcers after their jobs here end. She was quickly shoved forward, right into the group of four. "A-ah, hi, Teana..." Hayate awkwardly gazed around the group, her still heightened emotional state making it harder to start a conversation than it should've been "Hello, Commander. Your speech was really nice, I really enjoyed it. I was just talking to these guys about how we all want to be Enforcers and-"

Hayate quickly interrupted Teana's little rant. She seemed off compared to normal, her voice was a bit shaky and she was a lot more talkative than normal! Plus, her eyes had gotten a little unfocused and red. "Have you been drinking?" Hayate stepped closer towards her taller subordinate, zooming her eyes closer to her face.

Teana reacted by dodging her glare and softly muttering "I'm a soldier, so I'm allowed!" Teana objected, but Hayate stepped forward once more, hands moving to her sides and ready to scold someone as young as her for drinking alcohol. But, Nanoha interfered once more, distracting Hayate by gently squeezing her shoulder and speaking up. "Come on, it's fine~ Just for today, we can have everyone let go. That's exactly what you wanted with this party, right?"

Hayate knew she had lost this battle and stepped back slightly, shifting her attention towards Nanoha and giving her a quick nod. Wiggling her legs around in the discomfort of defeat, Hayate focused back on Teana. "Um, okay... but just for today! Don't let me catch you drinking again..." and once more, Hayate was interrupted by her shoulders being softly squeezed.

Even if it was just for a moment, scolding Teana had allowed her to focus on how all of the Riot Force was a family and forget how it's end was nigh. Hayate's arms shuffled, and she forced them crossed over her belly. Awkwardly, she tried to think of a way to continue the conversation... but she couldn't quite think of anything! "Um, errr..." Hayate let out a few thoughtful noises, squirming her arms around as she did.

Thankfully, this awkward moment was quickly interrupted by a loud and cheerful yell. "Ah, hey, everyone!" Subaru had come skating in on her device, quickly circling around Teana and embracing her from behind. "I'm happy to see you're having fun with everyone for once!" Subaru cooed out, her face sneaking closer to Teana's, resting softly on her shoulder before smelling a weird air coming from her mouth. Sniffing once more to be sure, Subaru moved her hands towards Teana's sides and started to tickle her. There was no response, other than a strangely happy and satisfied giggle "Aw, you're drunk! Teana's letting herself go for onceee~!"

Hayate couldn't help but giggle at the spectacle, a wide smile forming on her face as she was quickly pulled away again. passing by many familiar faces as she went. She had short little conversations with some of the regular foot soldiers, exchanged a few words with the officer that came here to join in the celebration, before being pulled to a table to the far side of the hall and being forced to sit down in a chair. Nanoha and Fate quickly sat down as well, Fate raising her hand to call a waiter "Three red wines, please."

"Ah, just tw-Oww, okay, three is fine..." Hayate wasn't much of a drinker herself, but it seemed like Fate insisted she took something. Her objections were interrupted with a very gentle kick at her shin, causing her to wince slightly and stomp the ground in pain. She looked across her friends, a bit bothered by what they might be planning but realising it should be okay, especially just for today. As the waiter left, her gaze faded away, back towards the large crowd of people. "I'll really miss everyone..." Hayate said, leading to Nanoha planting a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezing her to comfort her. "It's fine, we all will. But, we'll surely all be back together if another incident that needs us occurs." That was definitely true, and the thought of everyone returning when the need arises was a little comforting, but it somehow felt it'd simply be different.

"But..." Hayate's eyes stayed fixed on the crowd, noticing that Shamal and Zafira had completely joined in on the party, while Signum and Vita seemed to awkwardly watch, obviously dragged along by the two "It feels like it'll never be the same." a soft sigh came from her lips, reaffirming her thoughts. Even if the Riot Force returned, she felt like the pleasant atmosphere would just never be the same, which was part of why the division was so special!

"Come on, Hayate, don't be such a downer!" Nanoha said, the waiter returning and poured the three girls their wines, but before he could leave, Fate spoke up once more "Could you leave the bottle here?" the blonde Enforcer asked, quickly taking the wine from his grip and setting it down on the table. Nanoha and Fate both quickly grabbed onto their glasses, bringing it to their lips before noticing Hayate wasn't doing the same. "Come on, drink." While she didn't want to, Hayate couldn't simply reject Nanoha's request and shot her hands off to the glass, quickly bringing it to her lips and chugging it down in one quick movement. While Fate and Nanoha were originally just lightly sipping it, they mimicked her and quickly worked the entire glass down.

While Nanoha and Fate seemed unfazed, Hayate's hand moved up to her throat, rubbing it in pain as the alcohol set her throat ablaze. A few coughs came from her lips and she quickly set the glass down, moving the now-free hand to her lips to cover her coughs. Ah, she felt like she could vomit! While the taste wasn't that horrible, it was a bit too strong for the inexperienced Hayate. "It... ew... my throat!" but her pleads of pain and disgust were ignored as Fate poured everyone a second helping of wine. "Ah, no, I've had enough..."

"One more glass, Hayate." Fate and Nanoha said in sync. As if driven by fear, Hayate's hand quickly moved to snatch the glass and placed it against her lips once again. She gulped, and started to tilt the glass slightly, not pouring it down as eagerly as she did before. Her throat still burned horribly as she drank, but her slowed consumption made it feel far less painful than it before.

"There, well done, Hayate. Congratulations on your first glasses of alcohol~" Nanoha said in a teasing tone, setting down her glass and pouring another round for the three. Hayate's expression turned slightly nauseous as she saw her glass filled up once more, but Nanoha quickly calmed her worries by talking and giving her a gentle, comforting smile "You don't have to rush this one down." she said, nodding gently at Hayate, who's disgusted expression quickly faded.

"You need to loosen up a bit before you can enjoy the party, Hayate." Fate said, giving her a gentle pat on the shoulder as Nanoha gave her a soft push. The way that Hayate swayed from the push and took a few moments to reposition herself properly back on her chair made it quite obvious that the alcohol was already starting to settle in;. "I don't need alcohol for thaat!" Hayate reacted rather late to Fate's comment, making it even clearer that she was already starting to get ever-so-slightly tipsy. Nanoha and Fate giggled softly, knowing that that was the case but figuring that she might need the extra push with how she was currently feeling.

"I can party just fine! I can stand up, dance with everyone and have a lot of fun! I know how to have fun! I know how to..." Hayate suddenly fell silent in the midst of her sentence, a slightly confused expression forming on her face, before it quickly turned to one of sadness. "...what was I saying!" her tone was sad and she almost sounded like a young girl that was about to cry. The effects of alcohol were setting in on her at a rather unrealistic pace, which brought a soft laugh from Nanoha's lips. She was mildly amused by how low Hayate's alcohol tolerance was!

"Don't worry, it was nothing. Just calm down, Hayate." the chestnut-haired Captain rose up and stepped towards her Commander, softly patting her head. She didn't expect the alcohol to have this much of an effect on her, and she knew that sadness fuelled by intoxication could be very harsh! She did her best to calm her down as quick as she could, and the soft pat did indeed seem to snap Hayate out of her melancholic state. A smile appeared on her face and she rose up, grabbing onto Nanoha's sides and pushing herself tightly against the other. "Nanoha! I want to dance with you! So dance with me!" a childish pout even formed on Hayate's face as she spoke, earning her an awkward giggle from Nanoha's lips. "Maybe in a short bit, you'll trip like this!"

"Ah, I knew it! You just want to dance with Fate instead and leave me out!" Hayate quickly sat herself down, her voice filled with sadness once more, before her limited attention span shifted to Fate once again, a slightly huffy form of anger popping up on her face "You have no right to just hog Nanoha to yourself! We're all best friends, and just because you two used to go out-" once again, Hayate stopped mid sentence. Her anger quickly turned into worry and she rose up once again, stepping forward, around the table, and next to Fate.

"Eh? Hayate?" Fate was confused, and rightfully so, because Hayate had started to push her and her chair back slightly, away from the table. before quickly setting herself in Fate's lap, zooming her face closer to the blonde enforcer to the point where their faces were almost touching. "Hayate?" both Nanoha and Fate echoed out, slightly confused by what was happening. "What's wrong?" Fate asked, but Hayate didn't respond in the slightest. Instead, tears started to well up in her eyes as her hands moved to rest on Fate's cheeks, softly touching her face and gently gliding her fingers across her cheek.

"Fate... Fate!" Hayate's tone had shifted to one of extreme sadness, matching her expression. Her tears multiplied, and it became quite obvious that it wasn't merely caused by the alcohol. "I'm so sorry, Fate, I'm so sorry! I'm so, so, so sorry...!" Hayate's apologies were met by a confused "Eh...?" coming from Fate's lips, who quickly moved her hands to embrace her panicking commander. "It's fine, Hayate... but what exactly are you talking about?"

"Seven years ago! What happened seven years ago... I'm so sorry, Fate! What if it happens again, and what if you're not around to stop me! You barely managed to, three years ago..."


	4. Chapter 4: The Past

"What if it happens again, Fate?"

Hayate's words seemed to echo deeply with the blonde enforcer. She let out a soft gulp, lifting the smaller girl up and holding her tightly for a moment. Her attention instantly shifted to Nanoha, who had switched to an expression of both worry and confusion.

"Fate?" Nanoha asked, staring at her with a questioning look. But, instead of an explanation, instead of giving her the answer she wanted, Fate replied with a quick shake of her head. A tiny, but obviously forced smile had formed on her lips. She was clearly trying to break the worry away from Nanoha... and failing, horribly.

"It's fine. I didn't think Hayate would be this bad around alcohol." Fate said, her hand moving upwards to her commander's lips and silencing her by patting her fingers against them. "She's just worrying about an old argument we had. I thought she had forgotten about it." A forced laugh followed, doing nothing to break the worries away from Nanoha's heart.

"...Fate." Nanoha's tone had switched to be more serious. She didn't have to say any more, Fate knew that Nanoha was on to her. With how long they've known one-another, with how tight their bond was, a lie like that wouldn't do anything to disrupt Nanoha's senses. All it did was sting a little. Why would her closest friend, for so many years, hide something that was obviously such a big deal from her?

"I'm sorry, I'll tell you later. I'm going to go bring Hayate to her quarters, so she can rest for a bit. I'll explain when I'm back!"

A pained smile formed on Nanoha's face as she looked at Fate, who had started to trail off with Hayate in her arms. Fate probably wasn't going to tell her, was she...? Nanoha didn't think this because of a lack of trust. On the contrary, if it was something Fate had held secret for so many years... it had to be something truly important to Hayate. While she would like to know anything that bothered a friend of hers this much, she knew that some things are better off left alone.

"Hayate?" Fate whispered softly, laying her down on the couch in her quarters. A slight tint of red had set onto her cheeks. Hayate replied with a meek giggle, trying to force herself to sit up.

"Fate dragging me into my quarters all of a sudden... What's going to happen, I wonder~?"

Fate's reaction was a lot less pleasant than Hayate expected. Her hands moved forward to her commander's shoulders, giving her a weak shove to make her sit down once more. "Hayate. I told you to share these things with me... Chrono told you to share them with him too! Everyone, Hayate!" Fate's tone was completely serious. Even while Hayate was drunk, she was desperately trying to push people away from her. The onset of the alcohol barely made it possible for her heart to reach out, but now, once more, she was trying to escape burdening her friends.

"Fate~ I think I'm a little bit drunk, you can't honestly take me seriously, right? I'm bad with alcohol and say stupid things~!" A warm smile formed on Hayate's face as she softly wriggled around, curling herself up like a little kitten. Her expression was obviously intended to be comforting, but she still had a drunken look plastered across her face.

"Hayate." Fate's tone wasn't just worried, it was disapproving, too. It was obvious that Hayate had mostly regained her senses, and the first thing she did was try to stow away her problems from her friends. Her purity was... problematic. "You don't have to protect us. We're here for you. What happened back then wasn't your fau-"

"It was!" Hayate suddenly cried out. It was enough to make anyone's ears ring, but Fate didn't hesistate for a moment. "It wasn't your fault, it wasn't Nanoha's fault! It wasn't Chrono's fault it wasn't Vita's fault it wasn't Signum's fault it wasn't it wasn't..." Hayate's loud, high pitched cry slowly deteriorated into weak sobbing.

"It wasn't. If you weren't as strong as you are, it could've been a lot worse."

"But I should've been stronger! It should've never happened in the first place!

Fate gulped, moving her finger to Hayate's lips once again to silence her. "Please. I'll talk to you more about this when you're in a better state of mind, okay? You're too stressed out. Just... rest for a bit, and let's go back down and have fun with everyone again, okay...?

Hayate sobbed again, before nodding at Fate. "T-thank you." while it couldn't completely nullify her worries, Fate's gentle way of speaking was enough to calm her down for the time being. Fate wouldn't blame her, no matter what happened... and she would always be kind and encouraging. Right now, Fate was the strong pillar of support that Hayate needed. "Please don't tell Nanoha..."

Fate shook her head and gave Hayate a comforting pat on the head. "I won't. I promised you, didn't I? I won't tell a soul. Not even Nanoha."

* Seven Years Ago *

It had been two years since the three young mages had enlisted in the TSAB. The Wolkenritter were still under heavy surveillance; as they had to pay for their previous deeds. Even though they got off relatively light and were even granted entry into the TSAB, their status meant that Hayate couldn't spend too much time with them. While they had grown a lot more lax since their first year, they still lacked complete freedom and couldn't refuse any mission offered to them.

If it weren't for Nanoha and Fate, it would've been an extremely lonely time for Hayate. Any time she couldn't spend with the Wolkenritter was time spent with those two. Even though the situation sounded so desperate, her two newest friends helped carry her through it. Of course, it wasn't just them! Arisa and Suzuka helped, too. But, because of the experiences the three shared, their bond was a bit different. Not only were they her precious friends, she owed her life to them.

Of course, it wasn't just those two, Reinforce Zwei was with Hayate, too. She had been born only a year ago, but she retained the beautiful personality Reinforce Eins had before she joined the stars. She was the second coming of the protective wind, and while not as destructively powerful, she was just as loyal to her beloved master. With her, Hayate's family was complete once again. It felt like it was the start of a beautiful story...

But, that day, a day that ominously mimicked the Christmas morning when Reinforce departed, cast Hayate's hopes into ruin. She was walking down the street, enjoying a free day with Reinforce Zwei, enjoying the sensation of the cold winter breeze tickling her cheeks. This weather was special to her... while it symbolized the day Reinforce was taken away, it was also the day where Hayate was reborn, free of worries. The same weather struck the day Reinforce Zwei was born. And now, this time...

Hayate's phone rang. She had been waiting for Vita to call her when her mission was over so they could have a little chat, but it seemed like she was going to be late. It tended to happen, so Hayate wasn't worried. With a single, fluid movement, Hayate grabbed onto her phone and answered it, pushing it towards her ear and letting out a happy "Hello~"

"Um, Inspector Yagami?" There was a man on the other side of the telephone. It wasn't a voice she recognized, but, more importantly, the voice sounded distressed. Was it someone from the TSAB? Why would they suddenly contact her, let alone with a tone that made it sound like tragedy had struck? Hayate gulped in fear, the tone for the rest of the day had already been set, without even needing to hear the situation.

The worst case scenario had already set into her mind, causing Hayate to take a moment of silence, need it to recollect herself. "Y-yes? This is Yagami speaking..." after a few short moments, she finally regained enough clarity of the mind to respond. It couldn't be Vita, right? Maybe she got hurt on a mission, maybe even hospitalized. There's no way she would die, but what if... what if-

"It's about instructor Takamachi." the voice directly responded. "She's been hospitalized after a mission. Her situation is critical. Instructor Vita of the Wolkenritter asked me to call you."

Those words wouldn't even reach Hayate's ears. When she heard that Nanoha's condition was critical, the phone slipped from her fingers and down onto the snow beneath her. Her beautiful, sky-blue eyes lost their focus, and her pupils widened with fear. "Nanoha..." her voice was broken, terrified. The young Reinforce Zwei didn't need anything else to understand what was going on. "We need to... the hospital. Now."

Hayate's magic started to rampantly gather around her body as she chaotically lifted herself into flight. Reinforce Zwei quickly jumped up and fused her body into Hayate's, regulating her magical power. If it went rampant right here, Hayate could potentially wipe out a chunk of the city, maybe even more. But, while she could ease her magic, Reinforce couldn't do much to tend to her heart. All she could do, was whisper soothing words into Hayate's ear, reminding her that Nanoha would be alright.

After all, Nanoha is too strong, right? She can't actually die, right!? Just because she's in a critical condition now, doesn't mean she's in any real danger. the TSAB has the best medics around. Nanoha will be fine, happy, and on her feet again within a week!

Hayate couldn't share Rein's positivity. All she could feel was an extreme, genuine fear.

Hayate's worries amplified as she got closer and closer to the hospital. Nanoha's status was stated to be 'critical'... Her mind couldn't help but wander to the worst case scenarios. C-critical meant that she could simply... die at any moment, didn't it!? Just considering those things made Hayate feel sick to her stomach. Even with the small Reinforce doing her best to keep Hayate's emotions under control, her mood couldn't stop spiraling downwards and simply getting worse and worse...

"Where... Where's Instructor Takamachi!?" Hayate had finally arrived at the hospital, wasting no time in rushing towards the receptionist. Her distress was quite clear, her skin had gone as pale as the white of her hair, heaving weakly and shaking in her boots as she waited. Being this close to Nanoha only made Hayate fear more. What if she really saw what she was so afraid of!? What would she do...? The adrenaline that brought her here had slowly started to slip, and instead of checking up on Nanoha, all Hayate could think of was running away.

Hayate couldn't bare with the thought of actually seeing Nanoha in a horrible condition. She was the girl that dragged her out of that horrible, endless nightmare!

"Hayate... I promise. It'll be fine." Reinforce whispered once more into her young master's ear. It had a modicum of effect, snapping Hayate right back to reality. While she couldn't believe Reinforce's words that easily, it made her realise something else. If she wasn't capable of recovering here, running away would be even more horrible. It'd be the cruelest thing she could do to the friend that didn't run away no matter what happened! A tad of Hayate's willpower returned as she impatiently grabbed onto the desk of the receptionist, calming herself slightly by squeezing it as rough as she could.

"She just got transferred away from the emergency room. She's now in room 563, the fifth floor." Hayate was getting progressively more impatient now. The young special investigations officer really didn't want to hear anything unnecessary. But, the instant she got her room number, Hayate stormed off, recovering and recollecting her thoughts as she moved. She really had to calm down, as fuzzing wouldn't make this any better! Her legs were sore and ever since Reinforce became one with her, a strange ripping sensation had been sliding down her veins, but with the condition her friend was in, she simply couldn't worry about those things!

But, when she finally reached the hospital room... Hayate saw something more horrific than she could ever imagine. Yes, she expected Nanoha to be in a grave condition, but she didn't expect the broken, lifeless body that was laying down in the hospital bed.

The first thing Hayate saw... was herself, laying down on that very bed. She was weak, unmoving and. hooked to all sorts of machinery that were constantly monitoring her condition. They were there to ensure her survival, making sure she wouldn't slip away no matter how bad it got.

But then, that vision shattered and what Hayate saw was reality itself. It wasn't her. It wasn't even comparable to her! This wasn't someone that was peacefully resting and withering away. She was completely broken! Nanoha was wrapped up in bandages, only a bit of her face remaining uncovered. Whatever had attacked her clearly wasn't magical. It seemed like something went in with the intention to rip her apart!

Besides the fallen instructor were Hayate's youngest knight and Nanoha's best friend. Vita was crying her eyes out, clinging to Nanoha's right hand, holding it to her face and almost screaming out. Her entire face was red from tears, showing that she had been crying for more than a little while. Considering that they had gone on this mission together, Vita had probably been venting on their entire journey back to base.

Fate's state was the total opposite. Her expression had gone grim and pale. Her normally shining red eyes seemed empty and soulless. It was a state Hayate never thought she would see Fate in. She normally seemed so strong, but now it seemed she couldn't even gather the strength to cry. All she could do was weakly cling to Nanoha's arm, gently whispering her name. Upon seeing that the one most important to her had fallen, Fate's heart broke.

Even though her friends were in such crippled states, Nanoha was the only thing Hayate could worry for now. Seeing her bedridden like this washed away the pain of seeing Fate and Vita as torn as they were. All she could care about, for now, was the broken girl laying in front of her. "What happened?" Hayate asked as she walked closer, but neither Vita nor Fate had the will to respond.

"Nanoha... had an accident."

Shamal had entered from the doorway behind them, her doctor's gown on. "Vita and Nanoha were ambushed on their mission. Nanoha overexerted her body and couldn't fight back. Vita brought her back to base just in time. I managed to keep her alive, but..." even Shamal seemed to be uncomfortable talking about it, despite being a doctor. She gulped audibly and took a deep breath before continuing. "...I don't know if she'll ever be able to get out of bed again... let alone spread her wings and fly. She needs to fight just to survive."

With those words, the entire room fell silent. Vita's sobbing stopped as she looked at her fallen friend. Fate had stopped moving, not even muttering Nanoha's name anymore, and Shamal's gaze was simply weakly moving through the room, as if trying to avoid both Vita and Fate's eyes. It took a few moments for someone to break the silence.

"Ahaha, what's this negativity about?"

Hayate was the one to finally break the silence. Her words caused everyone's eyes to fall upon her. They were all uncomfortable by what she had said, but Fate seemed almost angry by how casually she spoke up. "This is Nanoha we're talking about! She's the reason we're all here!" Hayate forced a smile onto her face, sitting down on the end of the bed, drawing both Vita and Fate towards her, quickly yanking them closer and into a tight hug.

"Fate, Vita? I promise. She'll be okay. She's the strongest person I know! Something like that... to Nanoha, it's a minor setback! Vita, when she wakes up tomorrow, she'll grab you by the nose, telling you you know how strong she is! Fate, she'll pat you on the head, telling you she didn't mean to scare you! That's how Nanoha is! Something like this won't stop her!" Hayate quickly pecked both of their foreheads, hoping to calm them down a little as she continued to speak.

"I promise, okay? She won't die. She'll wake up and scold us for doubting her! She'll push through, like she always does."

Hayate's confident words seemed to calm both Vita and Fate a slight bit. Life started to return to Fate's face, showing she had returned to sanity at the very least. At the same time, Vita had recovered enough to wrap her arms tightly around Hayate's body, weakly sobbing into her side.

"Meister..." But, the young Reinforce in Hayate's heart could see that Hayate wasn't nearly that confident. She could feel her emotions, how she was barely holding herself together for her friends. Everything she said- she wasn't just trying to convince them that Nanoha was safe. She was trying to convince herself, too. "...Please, Meister, you don't have to hold your heart back. You don't have to stay strong after something like this..."

Even though Reinforce begged her, Hayate didn't budge. Right now, what they needed was someone to stay strong for them. Fate and Vita both needed someone to remind them everything would turn out okay. Shamal had the responsibility, as a doctor, to not sugar coat reality and be honest about Nanoha's condition, all three of them knew that. But, just maybe, Hayate's words could take the pain away a bit, or at least numb it slightly.

"Meister, if you want to cry, please don't keep it inside. You're just hurting yourself..." Despite her best efforts, Hayate simply shut out her unison device's comforting words, showing the both of her friends a warm smile to snap them out of their current fears. Or, at least, ease them a bit.

"It'll be just like me, okay? It's a bit scary now, but she'll pull herself back together. It is Nanoha, after all! Really. If I could do it..." Hayate kept on talking, trying to keep her own fears at bay. She had to be strong for her friends, there is no way she could succumb here as well! If she could grit her teeth a little while, Vita and Fate would be so much happier.

Were it not for how broken both Vita and Fate were, they would definitely notice Hayate's own condition. Her eyes, normally a pure blue in her unison form, had turned dark and empty. They seemed a bit purplish as her eyes just shook with shock. Tears had started to form in her eyes, enough to fog up her vision but never enough to spill out. Her skin had gone from its usual colour to a deathly pale.

"Meister. Please, please listen to me! We all know you're hurt! Seeing you keep it in like this, it isn't helping anyone! Meister, Meister Hayate...!"

But, Rein's voice couldn't even reach her Meister anymore.

From that moment onwards, there was a long, unbroken silence. All that could be heard was Vita's quiet sobbing as the three held on tightly to each other, trying to burn away their own fear and cling to Hayate's resolute vision instead. However, none of them could truly say they believed what Hayate said. All they could do was hope that Hayate's words were right.

"I'll speak to you three if there's any new developments. Please take care of yourselves." Shamal said, her eyes fixing on Hayate for a moment. It was clear that she had caught onto her master's little selfless act, and she didn't approve. But, she couldn't disturb this peaceful moment they were having. After leaving them with those words, Shamal silently walked off, closing the door besides herself, leaving them alone to recover from this horrifying event.

For three hours, none of them dared to talk. It was an awkward, painful silence. Hayate had completely lost her will to talk, Reinforce had strangely gone silent, Fate still couldn't collect the heart to talk, and the exhausted Vita had passed out, falling into a pained sleep against the back of Nanoha's bed. If this silence continued for any longer, Fate and Hayate would've probably fallen into a deep sleep as well.

"Hayate, Fate."

But, their time together was interrupted as Chrono walked through the door, an extremely stern expression plastered over his face, clearly under some emotional turmoil as well. It was an expression even Fate hadn't seen since the Book of Darkness incident had been resolved. While he was a lot better at hiding his pain than Hayate was, he did carry an aura of tranquil fury about him.

"We've managed to trace the origin of the drones Nanoha and Vita fought to a single individual. We've even secured his location."

As Chrono said those words, Fate almost leapt up, rushing to Chrono and tightly latching her hands onto him. While unhappiness was still written all over her face, the fact that they had caught the criminal that did this to Nanoha at least comforted her a bit! "Did you-"

But Fate's excitement was quickly killed as Chrono spoke again. "General Regius Gaiz took the mission out of our hands. The criminal, Jail Scagletti, also caused the death of one of his best mages and closest friends. However, he's unwilling to mobilize his troops at this time. He said he's afraid of a repeat of what happened to his friend. He's carefully investigating everything before he moves in." Chrono moved his hand to the side of his adopted sister, giving her a gentle squeeze.

"...Chrono... They aren't going to..." Fate couldn't help but imagine the most desperate situation. They might not make it in time! If they take so long to move, the enemy would have enough time to flee! Even if it was a trap, who cares!? If he had the means to do this to someone like Nanoha, he needed to be taken out at all costs! If he went loose for any longer, history could repeat itself once more! He already did it to one of Gaiz' strongest troops, he just caused Nanoha's fall...

"So... you're just going to let him get away!? The person that did this to Nanoha... He needs to be caught, Chrono! If there's a monster so dangerous he can make this happen, twice... he won't stop at this! You know that, right, Chrono!? How insane it is to back off just because General Gaiz told you!?" Fate wasn't the only person that came to that conclusion... Hayate did, too. But, unlike her, Hayate was completely willing to show her fears.

"Not attacking because he's afraid of a trap!? What kind of reason is that. He can mobilize me and the Wolkenritter! I'm sure the Navy would let you two come, too! We can't risk him escaping, we can't risk such a horrible criminal running free just because one General is unwilling to move!" Hayate wouldn't stop, moving closer to Chrono and Fate.

Something had clearly snapped inside of her. The pent up frustrations she wouldn't show until now all came flooding out. Her hands moved up to Chrono's collar, weakly grabbing at him. "You! You're Admiral Lindy's son! You... you can use your connections to make sure something happens, Chrono! What if he won't move what if they're working together what if he's too afraid what if he simply won't go! What if he-"

Hayate's loud shouts were interrupted by a sudden shock of pain blasting through her core. She loudly gasped out for pain, letting go and falling forward against Chrono's chest... All he could do in response was raise his arm to gently embrace Hayate, rubbing at the back of her head slightly. Chrono, too, was at the edge of moving on his own. However, this wasn't a situation where recklessness would solve anything. Attacking the enemy's base head on, after what they did to Nanoha... all it would lead to is death.

Even though it was painful to admit... The general's course of action was right. While even he wanted revenge and see the criminal be put to justice, he also knew that doing anything at this point was suicidal. While capturing him was important, they couldn't throw their lives away.

"Hayate..." Chrono whispered, making sure to keep a soothing tone. He knew that was what Hayate needed right now, and while his brain was telling him to scold her for everything she said, he couldn't get himself to say those nasty words. Not right now. Hayate was so brimful of anger that she was in physical pain, she couldn't even stand on her legs anymore. "...Shamal's in her usual quarters. Get yourself checked out." he said, letting her go and pushing her off himself.

"Fate, go with her. Nanoha wouldn't want you two to end up hospitalized as well because you're worrying too much. I'm sure she has something that can help the both of you out." Not only was Chrono legitimately worried for their conditions, he knew that having them stay here would only make it worse. They needed to take a walk and get some fresh air.

And more importantly, they both needed to keep an eye on each other. Chrono knew that both Fate and Hayate were prone to making irrational decisions in their current states, but he also knew that they wouldn't let the other throw their lives away. While they both wanted to get revenge on the terrible person that did this to Nanoha, they also didn't want the other to be hurt. Simply because Chrono knew how protective the both of them were of their friends, he trusted that neither of them would make the mistake of taking destiny into their own hands.

Yes, neither Hayate nor Fate would willingly endanger the other...

But, breathing the air outside of that accursed hospital room did nothing to calm the two down. They were both still completely unwilling to talk, after what Hayate told Chrono, they both realised they shared the same will and thoughts... and they both realised that the other was definitely willing to risk everything for revenge. And, as Chrono had predicted, both of them were unable to let the other out of their sights, even for a second. They didn't want to lose another friend!

"Oh, hello, Fate, Hayate!" Shamal cheerfully said as the pair entered the room, giving them a quick smile and standing up. She had been sorting through a multitude of paperwork, probably related to Nanoha's incident. The papers seemed mildly wet around the edges. Wet with sweat, Shamal had been working hard since the incident happened to keep Nanoha alive, and now she was sorting through pile after pile of paperwork to make sure Nanoha would receive the proper treatment she needed. With what happened to her body, and with how important she was to the TSAB, it was far from routine. "Is there anything you two need?"

"Chrono sent us in for a checkup... He was worried the stress might be a bit too much for us." Hayate quickly answered. She didn't really think she needed a medical examination now, but... Considering Fate's state, it definitely wouldn't hurt. She wasn't worried about herself, really. She knew she was fine, but Fate's condition was far from it. It seemed like she barely had the strength to stand and she looked like she could collapse at any moment.

"Hmm..." Shamal hummed out softly, pulling the rings of Klarwind off her hands and putting on some doctor's gloves, deciding to start her examination with Hayate. "There's definitely something strange with you now." she said, rather direct as she stared into Hayate's eyes. "You haven't left unison since you arrived... but, that's probably for the best." it was probably extremely tiring for Reinforce, but she worked as a sort of buffer between Hayate and her magic, a little control rod to make sure it would go out of control. Her hands moved over to Hayate's mouth, gently prying it open to look at her throat. The start of her examination was all very routine and simple, but it never hurt to give a full examination, right?

"...It's hard to give you a full examination while you're still unisoned, though." Shamal said with a soft sigh, but she definitely understood it was the better idea to keep Rein and Hayate together for now. While she trusted her master wouldn't willingly do anything crazy, she still had little-to-no control over her magic. She simply had too much power, and even an extremely well-trained mage would be unable to channel... let alone the eleven-year-old Hayate who was still stuck in the basics of magic! "...Your eyes are very weird, though. But that's probably just a result of how long you've been unisoned." Shamal said, taking note of her purple eyes.

"I-It's fine, Shamal, Fate is in a much worse condition, anyway. " Hayate said, showing her doctor a warm smile. Fate's turned herself to Hayate and gave her a concerned look, she looked like she had something to say, but just couldn't get it off her lips. "I'm just a bit exhausted, ahaha~" Hayate's awkward little lie wasn't enough to throw Shamal off, but she decided to play to her master's whims for now.

"Okay. If you're really fine, I'll look over Fate first. But, when I'm done. I'll take both you and Rein in for examination..." Shamal said, taking quite a commanding tone towards her master. If she was lying this awkwardly, she was definitely more pained than she let on. She'd just have to find a limiter to deal with Hayate's power while examining her! "Okay, Fate. Sit down right here..."

Shamal gently pushed Fate down into a chair, starting to examine her body. Of course, she started with those broken eyes of hers. Just the chaotic ways her pupils were moving told her enough, the shock was wrecking havoc on the poor girl's mind. Even hours after the news settled in, she hadn't even slightly recovered. "Hmm, I have some medicine to calm you down in the storage room. Do you want to get some of that before I examine you further?"

"N-no..." Fate silently responded, shaking her head. She wasn't too thrilled with the thought of taking medicine to get her mind off Nanoha. Even if she was suffering now, she actually want anything to take her mind off it! Nanoha was her best friend, if not more than just a that! In her eyes, it'd be very wrong not to suffer if she was in a state like this!

"Hmm. Okay. I understand." Shamal responded, grabbing Fate's hand and giving it a soft tug. "But, you are going to need something to help you sleep. It's pretty clear that you're exhausted. Nanoha wouldn't want you to pass out during the Enforcer's exam now, would she?" Shamal gave a warm smile as she just dragged poor Fate along to the back of her office, opening a door and dragging her with. Her office was right next to the supply room for medicine, so she had very convenient access to all of it. Because of this, she also served as a bit of a guard for the storage, making sure that no one would take what they wouldn't need. "Hayate, wait here for a moment. I'll be right back with Fate. I'll get some for you, too, alright?"

Hayate replied with a nod, wandering around the office, sitting down on Shamal's chair behind her desk and absent-mindedly looking at the documents on the table. She didn't really intend to give them a full read, or anything! She was just curious if there was anything about Nanoha's condition written down!

But, something else entirely caught her eye. One of the documents wasn't a medical report at all, it was a report of the mission Nanoha had gone on, along with some associated documents by Chrono. He probably left it here to help make sure Nanoha would get the attention she needed.

Hayate knew she had no business reading these things, but her curiosity got the best of her. Within moments, she found herself reading through Chrono's reports. "No way..."

Chrono had come to the same conclusion that Hayate did. This was clearly within the jurisdiction of the Enforcers and the Navy. General Gaiz wouldn't be able to take over command of the operation without a very good reason, one much better than simply the fact that he lost one of his men to him. They were even intending on taking the investigation further!

But, if Chrono knew, why wasn't he doing something!? If he came to the same conclusion as Hayate, with a lot more evidence supporting him, why wasn't he making a move!? Was it impossible. Was something tying his hands...? As an Enforcer with so many ties, shouldn't he be able to mobilize a large unit without any problems!? Why wasn't he doing anything! "No..."

He wasn't going to be caught. He was going to get away with how he treated Nanoha. It wasn't an insane conspiracy theory anymore, she had all the evidence right in front of her! "He can't just get away with this." Hayate muttered to herself, raising off her chair and grabbing onto a single document: One that detailed the coordinates of the planet that Jail Scagletti had apparently set up base on. "After how he harmed Nanoha..."

The sudden shock of anger she felt was enough to temporarily override Reinforce Zwei's subconscious control over her magic. Her energy aggressively jolted around and towards her left arm, blowing out of her hand. It caused a painful sensation, as if someone hit her hand with a hammer. It hurt so much that Hayate couldn't help crying out in pain, covering her mouth just barely too late to swallow her cries.

But with the anger and pain, came the realisation that she had to do something. She was the true master of the Tome of the Night Sky, and Scagletti managed to not only harm one of her best friends, but definitely intended to do the same to one of her knights, too! Yet, because of some incompetence in the TSAB, he was going to go scott free!?

A powerful need for revenge, one that Reinforce had been suppressing since Hayate saw Nanoha laying in that bed, had taken over her mind. Any positive influence and self-control that Reinforce had given her had now completely faded, and what woke up was a primal lust for revenge, very much like a mother would have if someone attacked her children.

"Hayate? What's wrong, Hayate?" A shout suddenly came from the supply room, but by the time Fate and Shamal returned, Hayate had already made her way out of the room and towards the roof of the hospital. She had taken Shamal's Klarwind with her, too, to hinder any pursuit. "...Oh no..."

But, while Shamal was still processing what happened, Fate instantly ran off, right after Hayate. She knew the need for revenge that Hayate was feeling right now, but she couldn't let her go. While she desperately wanted to choke every last bit of life out of the person that did this to Nanoha...

She knew, that if either of them were to go, they wouldn't come back alive. If a mere ambush could do this much damage to Nanoha, attacking him head-on would end with them dead. And while she was perfectly okay with rushing in head first, if it meant she could take out the person that did this all to Nanoha, she wasn't willing to let Hayate throw away her life!

With a few uses of Flash Move, she quickly caught up to Hayate, who was already on the roof, preparing for a dimension transfer spell. Something was... changing within her. Her normally white, pure aura of magic had changed to an eerie purple, and the normally white locks she had during unison ended in the brown of her normal hair.

"Hayate..."


End file.
